Mail box



e." n. WAGENSELLER.

MAIL BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1921.

Emma Nov. 1141, 1922.

msm'm.

IZZVVZI VY'OQ 4% $90- 4, Q.

Patented Nov. 14%, 1922.

UNETEH STATES GEORGE E. WAGENSELLER, OF OIVIAHA, NEBRASKA.

MAIL BOX.

Application filed April 1, 1921.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, GEORGE R. WAGEN- SELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mail Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to mail receptacles, and is primarily concerned with the construction of an improved box, adapted for attachment to a dwelling to hold delivered mail. a

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of means for facilitating the removal of mail matter, particularly letters. Another object is the pro-vision of a box having a compartment which is equipped with a closure member adapted to open and close automatically whenever a letter carrying frame within the compartment is raised or lowered respectively.

Still another object is a provision of a simple locking device which is readily adapted for use in connection with a movable tray and is arranged for permitting a proprietor to unlock the compartment, raise the closure member and remove any letters by employing only one hand.

In accomplishing the above objects, I provide a mail compartment having a vertically movable letter carrying tray therein. My invention contemplates, in general, the employment of a suitable closure member, together with cooperating means between the tray and member for automatically opening and locking the compartment whenever the tray is raised and lowered respec tively. e

The means for accomplishing the above objects will be more fully set forth in the following description, which relates to the drawings, and the essential characteristics will be summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a perspective view showing a mail box embodying features of my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the center of the box; Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the manner in which the letter carrying frame is-operable; Fig. at is an enlarged fragmentary view, in the nature of a section, showing the arrangement of the locking means when the tray is lowered.

Designating the parts shown in the draw- Serial No. 457,673.

ings by the use of reference characters, 10 and 11 represent the front wall and rear wall, respectively, of a mail box, having the usual shape, and having suitable means for securing it to a supporting surface. The sides of the box, represented at 15 and 16, respectively may each comprise a single strip of material, extending from the front to the rear wall or they may comprise several strips secured together along the line 17 Intermediate the front and rear walls and extending from one side to another, I provide a partition 14 which divides the box into a letter-carrying compartment and a paper carrying compartment, and may be said to constitute the rear wall of the letter receptacle. As shown, the sides 15 and 16 are flanged inwardly and secured to this rear wall.

The top of the letter compartment is provided preferably with two closure members 20 and 21, which may be hinged at 22 and 23 to the front and rear walls respectively. These closure members may be recessed, as at 2 1 and 25, along the meeting edges thereof, to provide an aperture, through which mail may be inserted when the closure members are locked together, by mechanism which will be hereinafter described.

Slidably mounted within the letter compartment, I provide a letter carrying frame, or tray, which, as shown, comprises a cradle having a base 26 and sides 27. The size of this tray is suiiicient to enable it to be readily moved within the compartment, without any binding action between it and the walls of the compartment. A conven ient manner of making this tray is to stamp the frame thereof, from a single strip of metal, so as to form the base and sides substantially as described.

To raise the tray, I provide a member 30, which is shown as being rigidly secured to one of the sides 27, and at the middle portion thereof. This member is preferably formed by bending a length of wire into a U-shape and providing a loop, as at 31 adjacent the intermediate portion thereof. Furthermore, the member may be bent downwardly, as at 32, to form a hook, for enabling an operator to insert a finger thereunder, for raising the tray. The free end of the member 32 extends through an elon gated slot 38 in the side wall of the compartment, and thereby enables the tray to be raised from the exterior part of the box. The slot 33 is shown as termii'iating short of the top of the box, as at 34, and serves to limit the upward movement of the tray and to prevent removal thereof.

To open the closure members automatically by the raising of the tray, I provide a pair of vertical bails 35, secured to the bottom of the tray and extending substantially the full height of the letter compartment. Thse bails form side guides for the letters, retaining them in substantially upright position as shown in Fig. 2. When the tray is raised, the bails, by abutting the clo sure members, swing them upwardly into open position.

I utilize the bails referred to as a means for insuring the closing of the closure members when the tray is lowered to normal position and also to lock these closure members in their closed position. I effect this by providing on the under sides of the closure members, cleats or keepers 37, which the bails engage as they are lowered, and thus insure the closure members being swung down into horizontal. position as shown in Fig. e and automatically locked there when the tray is locked in position.

The cleats or keepers above mentioned, are preferably L-shaped pieces of wire riveted to the closure members adjacent to their hinged edges and extending parallel with the members, toward their free edges; At the extreme edges these keepers preferably diverge from the closure members to insure engagement of them by the bails.

To lock the tray and the box, I prefer to employ a ring tl pivoted at 12 on that side of the box having the slot 33 therein. This ring is pivoted directly beneath the lower.- most point of the slot and is of such size as to fit over the hooked portion on the member 30, when such member is in its normal position. A padlock 4:5 may then be inserted through the loop 31 for locking the tray to the wall of the box.

A suming that the box is locked andthat letters have been deposited therein, then the operation in extracting the letters is as lol lows The padlock L5 is opened and removed from the loop 31 and the ring il is lifted from the top of the member 30. The opera tor may then insert his fourth finger beneath the hook-shaped portion of the member 30, as shown in the dotted lines of Fig. 3, to raise the member 30. The tray within the compartment is therefore simultaneously raised and the bails 35 abut the closure members 9.0 and 21, thereby swinging said members upwardly and outwardly. The outward movement of the closure members is limited by the lugs 46, a7. so that the members remain in substantially vertical position, while the bails: pass upwardly therebetween.

The member 30 is raised until the letters, or other mail matter are outside the compartment and are within reach of the thumb and index finger of the operator. The mail is then extracted and the member 30 released, whereupon the weight of the tray causes it to drop within the compartment. As the bails 35 descend, the intermediate portions thereof engage the keeper 37 and draw the closure members 20 and 21 downwardly and into abutting engagement with each other. The ring I1 is again positioned over the member 30 and the padlock i5 is again secured in locked position, whereupon the box is in condition to receive further mail.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a mail box which is of such character that the removal of mail matter, particularly letters, is greatly facilitated and may be performed by one hand, and that provision is made for automatically locking the closure member after the mail matter has been extracted therefrom. Furthermore, I have provided a mail box that is comparatively simple in construction and therefore capable of being cheaply manufactured. The letter receptacle be used either with or without the newspaper receptacle as desired, though the latter furnishes convenient means for securing the letter receptacle in place.

I claim:

1. In a mail box, a letter compartment, a closure member therefor, a tray movable within the compartment, and interengagmg means between the member and tray, said means being arranged to open the member when the tray is moved in one direction, and to lock the member when the tray is moved in the opposite direction.

2. In combination, a mail receptacle, a tray vertically movable therein, aclosure member hinged at the top of the receptacle, and means carried by the tray for abutting the closure member, whereby the raising of the tray may swing the closure member to open position.

3. In combination, a mail. receptacle, a tray movable therein, a closure member hinged to the lQCtEPtiIUlQ, a keeper on the inner side of the closure member, and means carried by the tray for engaging the keeper to lock the closure member closed when the tray is in normal position.

a. In combination, a mail receptacle, a tray slidably mounted therein, a closure member for the receptacle, and mutually interengaging means on the tray and closure member respectively.

5. In combination, a. mail receptacle, a. tray slidably mounted therein, a closure. member for the receptacle, and mutually interengaging bails on the tray and keepers on the closure member.

6. In combination, a mail carrying receptacle, a tray slidably mounted therein, means for raising the tray from a point outside the receptacle, a bail mounted on the tray, a closure member, and means on said member interposed into the path of the bail whereby the member is closed when the bail is moved in one direction.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a mail compartment, of oppositely disposed closure members pivoted thereto, a tray slidably mounted within the compartment, means on the tray for abutting the members to open them when the tray is raised, and means on the closure member for engaging the first mentioned means for closing them when the tray is lowered.

8. The combination with a receptacle, of a closure member pivoted thereto and at the top thereof,..a tray, a bail carried by the tray and adapted to abut the closure member when the tray is raised from its lowermost position, and a keeper on the closure member, said keeper being arranged to cooperate with the bail on the tray to lock the closure member to the receptacle.

9. In combination, a mail carrying receptacle, a closure member therefor, a tray movable therein, a lJ-shaped bail having the ends thereof secured to the tray and the intermediate portion thereof adjacent the closure member, and means on the closure member for co-operating with said bail for actuating the closure member.

10. In combination, a mail carrying receptacle, a closure member therefor, a tray movable therein, means carried by the tray and extending upwardly therefrom, and an L- shaped keeper on the closure member for co-o eratin with said means for actuatin the closure member. 7

11. In combination, a mail carrying recepta-cle, a closure member therefor, an L shaped keeper on the underside of the closure member, a tray slidable within the receptacle, a U-shaped bail rigid with the tray, and having the intermediate portion thereof normally positioned between the underside of the closure member and the projecting portion of the Lshaped keeper.

12. In a device of the class described, a mail compartment, a tray movable therein, and means carried by the tray and extending outwardly beyond the compartment through an elongated slot in the compartment wall for enabling the tray to be moved from a point outside the compartment.

18. In a device of the class described, a mail compartment, a tray slidable therein,

and a curved member carried by the tray and extending outwardly beyond the compartment and normally occupying the lower portion of a vertical slot in one of the walls of the compartment for enabling the tray to be raised.

14. In a device of the class described, the combination with a mail compartment, having enclosing walls therefor, one of said walls having a slot extending longitudinally thereof, of a tray in the compartment, and a member carried by the tray and extending through the slot whereby the tray may be moved from a point outside the compartment.

15. In combination, a compartment open at the top, another compartment adjacent thereto and carried thereby, said last mentioned compartment having a closure memher, a frame slidably mounted therein, a member carried by the frame and protruding outwardly from one side thereof, and means on the frame to open said closure member when the frame is raised.

16. In a mail box, a compartment open at the top, another compartment carried thereby and havinga slot in one Wall thereof, a tray slidably mounted in the last mentioned compartment, a member carried by the tray and extending outwardly through said slot, a U-shaped bail having the ends thereof carried by the tray, and the intermediate portion thereof adjacent the top of the compartment, a closure member pivoted at the top of the compartment, and a keeper secured to the closure member and adapted to lie beneath the intermediate portion of the U- shaped bail.

17. The combination of a rectangular letter box having a hinged top, a newspaper compartment having a back plate, side walls and a bottom and open at its top, said side walls being inwardly flanged and secured to the rear wall of the letter box.

IS. The combination of a rectangular letter box having a hinged top, a vertically movable tray within the receptacle provided with means for locking the hinged top, a newspaper compartment having a back plate, side walls and a bottom and open at its top, said side walls being inwardly flanged and secured to the rear wall of the letter box, and means in front of the newspaper compartment for raising said tray.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature.

GEORGE E. WAGENSELLER. 

